Jonathan Mayo brings you the word on the street

Will the Moose be loose?

With David Price now signed, sealed and delivered to Tampa, No. 2 pick Mike Moustakas remains the highest name on the board still unsigned. And it’s looking like it might stay that way.

From what I’ve heard, the Royals and the Moustakas camp are not discussing anything at the moment. It appears that the Royals may have put their best offer on the table and it’s now up to the player and his agent to decide. And all signs point, at least right now, to Moustakas walking away from the offer.

But it seems like he won’t then head to fulfill his commitment to USC. Instead, he’ll opt for the junior college route so he can re-enter the draft in 2008. There’s still about 2 1/4 hours to go before the deadline, and anything can happen with a Boras client, but this is looking like one first-rounder who is not going to sign.

I can’t believe this. This is absolute bologna. No matter what average to above-average free agent we go after this winter (in a very shallow pool) there is going to be that lingering, “could have spent it on Moustakas” feel to it.

“BUT, I do believe this: When you sign with Boras, it seems to me that you relinquish the right to play the ‘I love baseball, and I would play it for free,’ card. I don’t have any doubt that Mike Moustakas lives to play baseball…But, plainly, he doesn’t love it enough to play it for anything like $3.1 million. That’s why he hired Scott Boras.”

I think this is the perfect time to get harsh on the Royals. With one of the Royals best minor leaguers being an 80mph throwing novelity act, the Royals NEED any and especially top level talent to put in their system. They aren’t like the Tigers where they have the depth to not sign a draft pick or not. Unproven or not he’s better than a team full of Lubanski’s.

You’re right anthony. The Royals might think that they don’t need another left-handed bat who plays an infield position and think that their money could be better used elsewhere. They took a chance drafting a Boras client possibly thinking that not getting him signed wouldn’t be the end of the world. It truly makes them look uncommitted to improving and quite foolish, though.

Do you really think they took Moustakas because they felt, ‘Well, if we don’t get him signed, it’s not the end of the world?’ Really? Dig deep down and think about that one a minute. These are the guys who went above slot to sign Alex Gordon and Luke Hochevar the last two years. They’ve got a new GM who comes from a huge track record of scouting and player development in Atlanta. You can think whatever you want about them not ponying up to whatever Moustakas was looking for, but don’t for a second believe they’re OK with not signing the No. 2 overall pick.

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